Gyatso's Legacy
by Dacyon
Summary: Tenzin is upset because he thinks his parents didn't name him after anyone like his siblings, but his father is there to help set the record straight.


**A/N **– Just a small, fluffy family one-shot I had started a while ago and been meaning to finish.

**Disclaimer**: _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ and _The Legend of Korra _belong to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko; I own nothing.

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-The Present (Air Temple Island, 125 Years After Sozin's Comet)-

"Dad?"

Aang looked up from behind the desk in his study – it was late in the evening, probably nearing nine o'clock. At the door stood six year-old Tenzin, clutching his stuffed Flying Lemur and staring up at his father with glistening gray-blue eyes. "Tenzin, what are you doing up? It's way past your bedtime." The thirty-eight year-old Avatar stood from his desk and crossed the room to pick up his youngest son. Concern suddenly made its way into Aang's gray eyes as he noticed the dried tears on Tenzin's pale cheeks. "Tenzin, what's wrong?"

The little boy sniffled and turned his head away, seemingly ashamed at showing his father any weakness, despite the turmoil evidently raging inside him. "Bud," Aang turned Tenzin's head to meet his son's gaze, "it's alright to cry – just tell me what's bothering you." As fresh tears started to fall and the Master Airbender wiped them away, he gave a sad chuckle. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong, Tenzin."

"Why," the young boy choked out, "why 'Tenzin?'"

Shifting his arms so he could cradle the little Airbender more comfortably for both of them, Aang was suddenly perplexed. "What do you mean, 'why Tenzin?'"

Tenzin whimpered in his father's arms, "You and Mom named Kya after Grandma and Bumi after your old friend from Omashu, but I've asked and Uncle Sokka and the Acowytes," Aang smiled despite the situation, Tenzin had been having trouble saying 'Acolytes,' and Aang and Katara just thought it was adorable, "say you guys didn't know anyone with my name." Aang could only guess that Tenzin had been struggling with this for some time, but had waited to be alone on the island with his father – Katara had taken Kya and Bumi down to the South Pole to visit their grandfather – Tenzin didn't go because he had a cold when they left and Aang was busy with council meetings. Hakoda had mentioned wanting to take them on a hunting trip, but Aang imagined that wouldn't be very successful since all of his children were vegetarians.

"So, you want to know about your name-sake, is that it, little man?" At Tenzin's nod, Aang returned to his desk chair and slowly rocked it back and forth, comforting his youngest child. "Well, before I start, you know that your mother and I love you and Kya and Bumi equally _and_ more than anything in the world, right?" Tenzin gave a small smile, nodding his head. Kissing his son's forehead, the Avatar whispered, "Good. Never forget that."

"I won't, father."

Aang chuckled – Tenzin was only six and was already starting to call him 'father' instead of 'dad' on occasion – he just hoped the kid never started addressing him as 'Avatar Aang' in place of 'father.' "You know about my Airbending teacher, Monk Gyatso, right?" Again, Tenzin's nod urged his father to continue. "Well, a few months before I was frozen in ice, I was talking with Monk Gyatso about everything under the sun. Somehow, we got to the subject of why Gyatso had decided to become a monk and not start a family."

Tenzin gave his father a quizzical look, "But _you_ were his family, right Dad?" Aang felt his eyes grow misty at his son's question. The Avatar was very thankful that he was blessed with such a loving wife and their three beautiful children – _his family_. He always thought of Gyatso and Team Avatar as his family, but it was moments like these that reminded him he had real, blood-relatives that he _knew_. Unlike himself, his children knew their parents, and weren't raised in a monastery – not that Aang disliked being raised as a monk since he had Gyatso, of course. Biting his lower lip to keep his tears at bay and nodding, Aang affectionately rubbed Tenzin's scruffy head – while they both knew he was an Airbender, Katara and Aang had decided to let Tenzin keep his hair a few more years, though the boy requested it be kept pretty short himself.

"Yeah, Tenzin, I was. In all the ways that mattered, Gyatso was my father. And I _know_ he always saw me as a son." His fond memories of Gyatso threatened to overwhelm him, but after placing another loving kiss to his son's forehead, Aang focused on the one memory he needed to tell the story.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_-Flashback (The Southern Air Temple, 0 ASC)- _

"_. . . and that Aang is why Monk Tashi is perpetually grouchy." _

_The young Airbender laughed at his mentor's story, despite its dubious nature. "So, Gyatso," Aang asked, "you're saying Monk Tashi is grouchy all the time because his father accidentally screwed up his tattoos?" _

_Chuckling, the older man nodded his head. "That's also why he declared he would never start a family and strove to become the head monk responsible for the tattooing ceremony here at the Southern Air Temple." _

_Suddenly, a new question crossed Aang's mind. "Hey, Gyatso?" _

"_Yes, my young pupil?" _

"_Why'd you never have a family?" _

_While the question caught the older man off-guard, he answered it truthfully. "Well, Aang, when I chose to be a temple monk, I was forbidden from raising a family." Seeing his young charge's mouth hang slightly open as indication of an obvious follow-up question, Gyatso decided to go ahead and ask it for him. "Why did I choose to become a temple monk?" _

_Aang nodded vigorously in regards to what had been on the tip of his tongue. _

"_I guess I never found the right person to settle down with. Not that we Air Nomads are much for settling down," he and his student shared a chuckle, "but, I eventually decided I wasn't getting any younger and helping to teach future Airbenders seemed like a great profession to me. So, here I am." _

_Aang nodded slowly, mulling over whether or not he should ask his mentor the next question that had formed in his mind. Noticing his hesitation, Gyatso prodded him. "Aang?" _

_Pulled from his thoughts, the twelve year old boy looked up at his master. "Yeah?" _

"_Is there something else on your mind?" _

_The young boy looked down, appearing ashamed for asking such personal questions of his mentor, "Do you ever regret not getting married or having kids of your own?" _

_The elder monk placed his fingers under Aang's chin and brought the boy's head up so that their gazes were level. Gyatso smiled a small, sad smile. "There are days, Aang, when I wonder what it would be like to have raised a family." His smile widened, "But I do not dwell on the past; I'm quite content with how my life has turned out." _

"_Did you ever think about where you'd like to live? What you would've named any kids you might've had?" While Gyatso was unsure what had gotten Aang so interested in Gyatso's past or the idea of raising a family, he saw no harm in answering his pupil's questions. _

"_Well," he chuckled as he looked out across the mountains, "again, we're Air Nomads – we wouldn't really _live_ anywhere. Names, however. . . I had a brother who passed away from sickness when I was very young. While I don't remember much of our time together, I do remember his name – Tenzin. I always liked that name and I promised myself that if I ever had a son, I'd name him Tenzin." He turned to face the young Avatar beside him, "But, you're like the son I never had, Aang." _

_The young monk smiled, "Thanks, Gyatso. And I promise, if I ever have a son, I'll name him Tenzin, just for you!" _

_Gyatso patted the boy on his head, smiling contentedly, "That's very thoughtful of you, Aang." _

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

-The Present (Air Temple Island, 125 ASC)-

"So, in a way, you named me after Monk Gyatso?"

"Exactly. If Gyatso would have had any children, he would have named one of them Tenzin. Since he never did, I wanted to honor his memory by naming one of my kids Tenzin. So, your _name_ might be Tenzin, but you were _named_ for Monk Gyatso."

Tenzin smiled brightly, "Thanks, Dad. I understand now." He turned his head away, "I guess I was being kinda silly for being so upset about this, huh?"

Aang kissed his son's temple, "No, you weren't being silly at all. Your mother and I should have told you sooner, but your siblings never asked about their namesakes until they were older, and when they did, they came to us directly."

The young boy smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, son. Just know you can come and talk to your Mom and I about anything, okay?"

"Okay, I will, father."

Groaning as he stood up from his chair, he readjusted Tenzin in his arms. "You know you're getting to be a big boy, you know that?" His son smiled proudly, happy to hear he was growing. "Now, let's get you back to bed."

After walking down the hall, Aang turned into Tenzin's room and tucked his youngest child into bed. Just as he was about to kiss his son goodnight, Tenzin spoke up. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it okay if me, Kya, and Bumi think of Monk Gyatso as another grandpa?"

Aang smiled as tears began to form in the corner of his eyes. "Yeah, that'd be fine. I'm sure Gyatso would love that." Aang leaned down and kissed his son on the forehead, "Goodnight, Tenzin. I love you."

"Goodnight, Dad. Love you, too."

In the realm known as the Spirit World, Gyatso felt warm, joyful tears fall from his eyes as he lovingly watched over his son, and one of his grandchildren, from afar.

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**A/N** – This didn't turn out as well as it had in my head, but I felt like I had to finish it now or I'd never get it done.

I guess I've always felt kinda bad for Tenzin – while his siblings knew for certain whom they had been named after, it was never mentioned who Tenzin was named for. So, this story is just what came to my mind. I guess I should also point out I started this story long before the whole cloud-family drama started appearing on _The Legend of Korra_, so Aang "being busy with council meetings" was not to imply he was neglecting his family. It was actually more in reference to the years prior to Yakone's arrest and trial – the council would have probably been trying to arrest him for several years and been very busy.

Interesting to point out, if you didn't already know, Gyatso was based on (and named after) the current Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism, Tenzin Gyatso; Tenzin was also named after him. So that's another reason I thought this kind of connection made sense, both characters were named after the same man, so why not have Tenzin "named" for Gyatso?

When Gyatso talks about his "brother," Tenzin, it can mean a biological brother or spiritual brother, like a fellow monk at the temple, it's up to your personal interpretation. And the last line isn't to imply that Gyatso is Aang's biological father, but in all the ways that _mattered_, Gyatso really _was_ Aang's father.

Oh, and at the beginning when Aang gives a sad little chuckle and says "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong," as well as rocking Tenzin in his desk chair – those were things my Dad would say/do whenever I was upset when I was young and he was trying to figure out what was wrong and comfort me.

Also, I will be working on the next chapter of "Laying Down the Law," as I have a short break from classes coming up, but I have no idea when I will be satisfied with my writing/be able to post it. So, thanks for reading, review if you'd like, and I'll see you all next time!


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